Trans Face in House of Flowers
Why are cisgender people playing trans people?
House of Flowers scripts a trans woman character. That’s good, right?
In this Netflix dark comedy House of Flowers (Caro et. al., 2018), a wealthy Mexican family faces unexpected challenges when the patriarch of the family’s mistress kills herself at her lover’s wedding anniversary party. Things spiral south from there, and the father Ernesto ends up in jail after being betrayed by his scorned wife. Enter María José, a lawyer and trans woman once married to Ernesto’s alleged daughter, who comes back from Spain to fight her former father-in-law´s case. One thing stands out. María Jose´s character (who is white) is played by a white cisgender man.
Why are cisgender people playing transgender people?
Don´t misunderstand me, I am pleased that the series wrote a script for a transgender person, but, can we accept that transgender people playing transgender people in movies is still acting? (Yes, it’s true, Academy Awards). However, the Hollywood Powers That Be have not given up on the idea that the desirable object for the consumer, and therefore the industry, is the white, rich, cisgender person and their experiences, so when there are transgender or gay roles to be had (normally written for white people), cis and straight men and women gleefully take off running with them. (Just an aside about race, let’s mention The Human Stain (Benton, 2003) where Anthony Hopkins played a black man passing for white. Is it possible to roll your eyes 360 degrees?).
More LGBTQ people playing LGBTQ roles
Casting of cisgender people as transgender people at best leads to misinformation and at worst to violence. Noveck (2018) quotes Nick Adams from Glaad,
“[cisgender people playing trans people] reinforces in some people’s minds that trans people’s identities are not real — that it’s a costume, a show, a performance. That fundamental misunderstanding about who trans people are is toxic, and it can lead to violence.”
Furthermore, trans gender actors point out that cisgender people playing trans people makes for an unauthentic representation (Oliver, 2020). The same goes for LGBTQ roles generally. Actor Billy Eichner criticizes Hollywood for not including LGBTQ actors and points out that more LGBTQ voices enrich media representations because
“[LGBTQ actors] .. have the lived-in experience to bring the intellectual nuance of it to the screen,”(Oliver, 2020).
And maybe that is the point. Maybe Hollywood wants there to be LGBTQ movies, but not “too LGBTQ.” Do they fear the white cis, male gaze, or those enchanted by it won’t go for a film with actual lesbian, gay or trans people as actors? Imagine Broke Back Mountain (Lee, 2005) with two actual gay men instead of two heterosexual men acting as gay men, and god forbid, two black gay men. Hollywood, it is time.
References
Benton, R. (2003). The human stain [Film].Lakeshore Entertainment.
Caro, M., Revilla, M., Nuncio, G., Arguero Mendoza, H., Aldrete, A., & Torres, K. (Writers), & Caro, M., Belli, A., Limón, S., & Asuad, Y (Directors).
(2018, August, 10). Magnolia (Season 1, Episode 6) [Tv series episode]. In M. Arrendondo, M. Caro, M. José Córdova, R. Ley & S. Perskie. (Executive Producers), Casa de las Flores. Noc Noc Cinema.
GLAAD (n.d.)GLAAD media reference guide-Transgender.
Lee, A. (2005). Brokeback Mountain [Film]. Focus Features.
Oliver, D. (2020, Nov. 24). Hollywood’s casting dilemma: Should straight, cisgender actors play LGBTQ characters? USA Today.
